Saturday, July 04, 2009

Does Diageo Think Americans are Bad Bartenders?

It seems they might. I have been very confused with some of the choices the company has made concerning the products it markets to us (do we really need multiple flavors of Rumplemintz?) However this recent decision blows me away.

Apparently, all over the planet, there has been an ongoing competition called 'We Are World Class" sponsored by Diageo's reserve portfolio (most of which I absolutely adore btw). They have a killer website, celebrity judges and a global scope to help them find what they call 'The World's Best Bartender.' Now we all know there is no such thing, but the prospect of competing in such an environment is thrilling.

There is just one problem for me.

They did not open it up to the US (at least that to my knowledge and I have been paying attention.)

So here goes my rant. The cocktail was invented here in the US. There is no way Diageo would have been able to stage a competition on the scale they did without the US market. Hell, 2 of the judges are American (or close enough in the case of Mr. Regan.) Lastly, I know it is horribly self-centered of me to ask it, but is it really a 'global search' if you do not look in the US?

7 comments:

Diageo are not allowed to run world class in the usa due to rules around drinks companies promoting their grog direct to bartenders. pathetic i know but that is the usa rules as they stand at the moment.

While I certainly do agree that US regulations concerning the business of booze are horrible and that the additional regulations certain States impose are even more silly, there seem to be plenty of other companies able to figure it out. So many in fact, I personally am a little over competitions.

Now Diageo does not have to do anything. They can do whatever they what as far as contests go. What burns my nuggets is the use of the tag-line 'Worlds Best.' I have a hard time with a company with the resources of Diageo calling themselves 'World Class' while leaving out the US.

I care about as much about the World Series as I do about a silly title like the one in question. If you care to actually read what I am writing, you will notice that I just irked that my brothers and sisters are not given the chance to be a part of the exposition. I really don't think my 'horse' was all that high, but then again, comments like that are easy when one poss anonymously aren't they.